korean pop

Well that was fast. Within days of releasing his follow up to “Gangnam Style” Psy drops the music video for “Gentleman.” Even though the clip has already amassed over seven million views, I don’t think it’s going to be nearly as viral as “Gangnam Style” which to date has clocked in over 1.5 billion views. I broke out into hysterical laughter the first time I saw that clip. Sadly, I didn’t with “Gentleman.” It’s mediocre at best. The 35-year-old singer is very well on his way to becoming a one hit wonder in North America.

What made “Gangnam Style” amazing was all the insane dance moves. The slow hip swaying in this one is anti-climatic. Apparently, it’s an homage to Brown Eyed Girls‘ “Abracadabra” music video. Speaking of them, Ga, who’s a member of the K-Pop girl group, appears in the clip. She takes over Hyuna as Psy’s love interest. Watch the music video below where Psy is anything but a gentleman with HisBilly Madison-type pranks.

Back in 2009, Wonder Girls were the first Korean pop group to break into Billboard’s Hot 100 chart with their infectious global hit, “Nobody“. Since then, their attempts to build on their initial success has been clunky at best. Their TV movie on Teen Nick wasn’t exactly a hit and their single, “The DJ is Mine” went nowhere fast. Adding insult to injury, their K-Pop rivals, Girls’ Generation, scored a record deal with Interscope Records and appeared on the David Letterman show. Despite all that, Wonder Girls are giving one more attempt to win over US audiences.

With all those ingredients in place, “Like Money” is a solid track that could get Wonder Girls some serious radio airplay. It has the vibe and sound of all the electro-pop songs currently dominating the charts. With that said, “Like Money” still has the K-Pop feel that propelled them to stardom in Asia. The hook is especially catchy. Check out the futuristic music video below.

Back for another episode, and this time it’s the all dance review. Something about the sun popping out the last couple days that makes me re-tune in with my groove thang. So if you don’t want some hard beats, skip this, but if you want some dance-in-your-living-room tunes or your treadmill routine’s getting old, these are for you!

Thief (Shinichi Osawa Remix) – Lost Valentinos

Here’s the beauty of the Ministry of Sound Annuals: I pick my favorites very early on into getting the album, but I keep the entire album on my iPod for just this reason. Every so often, something will come on random, and I’ll wonder why I never tuned in the first few times around. This track is one of those. The kicker beat may be a little too rough for some, but this thing gets my cardio pumping harder at the gym. This is a group out of Australia remixed by a Japanese DJ. The culture clash works for it, and the “Oooh-ooh-ooh”s get me everytime.